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This statement makes no sense. Biden was the actual president. He didn't need a "shadow government".Because that is what was happening under the Biden shadow government.
He obviously did since Jill and Hunter sat in on cabinet meetings and made decisions in his stead. Biden was nothing but a figurehead for most of his presidency.This statement makes no sense. Biden was the actual president. He didn't need a "shadow government".
It isn’t the people that collect the taxes from the vast majority of the people, it is the employers who take it directly out of our paychecks.
True. I was focusing on payroll taxes. And I assumed that most employees paid in that manner, which is a good percentage of the workforce.If I can parse your language correctly, this is wrong.
Individual income taxes are about 50% of total federal tax collections (49.3% of total revenue in FY2024, and 50.7% in FY2025). Those aren't taken out of paychecks by employers though, unless you're on a Pay As You Go witholding scheme.
Payroll taxes (which are taken out of paychecks) are about 25-30% of total US tax revenue.
Corporate tax is about 9-11% of total revenue and excises and other taxes are about 8-12%.
This statement makes no sense. Biden was the actual president. He didn't need a "shadow government".
Dozens of people sit-in or participate in cabinet meetings. It doesn't make any president a "figurehead". Not Biden, not Trump, Not Obama, none of them. This "made decisions in his stead" is unsupported nonsense.He obviously did since Jill and Hunter sat in on cabinet meetings and made decisions in his stead. Biden was nothing but a figurehead for most of his presidency.
And yet the left was all bent out of shape and let everyone know it when Donald Trump had Elon Musk sit in on a cabinet meeting to give his report on DOGE just a couple months ago. And sitting in on a cabinet meeting isn’t the same as making decisions for the country or administration. And it’s “only nonsense” to those who refuse to listen to interviews with Biden’s cabinet members who stated as much.Dozens of people sit-in or participate in cabinet meetings. It doesn't make any president a "figurehead". Not Biden, not Trump, Not Obama, none of them. This "made decisions in his stead" is unsupported nonsense.
There is a significant challenge in current political discourse: the desire for one side to prevail often overshadows the importance of reasoning and factual evidence. Your argument lacks factual support and appears subjective and biased.Then you aren’t paying attention to the discussion.
Each state has the right to set it at whatever limit they want to impose. It’s when it isn’t working that it needs to be re-evaluated. And at a time it wasn’t working, California re-evaluated and went in the wrong direction. Instead of clamping down on crime and bringing it under control, they changed the law to make it easier to get away with looting and violence by raising the level it takes for the criminal action to become a felony.
Texas doesn’t have the same crime problem because they are hard on crime, in general.
The reason petty crimes increase is because of the left’s desire to keep the (mostly) black population enslaved. They keep them enslaved by keeping them in poverty by giving them just enough money to barely survive without giving them enough to escape poverty. They threaten to cut govt. funds if they get a job to help pay the bills and refuse to create programs to teach people needed job skills so they can get a job that pays a living salary. And all of that will lead to situations where people need to join gangs or take matters into their own hands (illegally) to find a way to live in this current society.There is a significant challenge in current political discourse: the desire for one side to prevail often overshadows the importance of reasoning and factual evidence. Your argument lacks factual support and appears subjective and biased.
Instead of considering the rationale behind updates to laws, the discussion is frequently reduced to partisan criticism, such as negative generalizations about liberal states.
Below are some AI-generated explanations regarding why petty theft thresholds change periodically across various states. Typically, these changes are influenced by factors other than crime rates.
Petty theft thresholds are updated often to adjust for inflation, manage prison resources, and ensure punishments are fair and proportionate to the crime. By raising the value at which a theft becomes a felony, states address the following key issues:
Inflation
The value of money changes over time, meaning a fixed-dollar threshold from decades ago becomes less significant with each passing year.
Prison overcrowding and cost management
- Decades-old laws: Some states, such as New Jersey, had felony theft thresholds that remained unchanged for decades. A $200 threshold set in 1978 does not have the same purchasing power today.
- Overcriminalization: Without regular adjustments for inflation, an increasing number of minor theft offenses can be charged as felonies. This results in harsher penalties for crimes that were originally considered less serious.
Felony theft charges often lead to costly prison sentences, straining state budgets and resources.
Fair and proportionate punishment
- Prioritizing resources: Raising the threshold helps to reserve expensive prison space for more violent and serious offenders.
- Reducing costs: By decreasing the number of people sent to prison for low-level property crimes, states can reduce the financial burden on taxpayers.
The legal system aims to match the severity of the punishment to the severity of the crime. When inflation erodes the value of money, the punishment can become disproportionately harsh for less serious offenses.
- Avoiding felony consequences: Misdemeanor charges have less severe, and often less permanent, consequences for an individual's life than a felony conviction. Felonies can permanently impact a person's ability to find jobs, secure housing, or vote.
- No link to higher crime rates: Studies by the Pew Charitable Trusts have found that raising felony theft thresholds does not lead to an increase in property crime or larceny rates. This evidence allows policymakers to safely enact these reforms without compromising public safety.
Musk acted like he was in charge in those meetings far, far more than anyone else in any such meeting with Trump, or Biden, or Obama. There was a reason people referred to him occasionally as the "co-President".And yet the left was all bent out of shape and let everyone know it when Donald Trump had Elon Musk sit in on a cabinet meeting to give his report on DOGE just a couple months ago. And sitting in on a cabinet meeting isn’t the same as making decisions for the country or administration. And it’s “only nonsense” to those who refuse to listen to interviews with Biden’s cabinet members who stated as much.
Can’t have it both ways.
What decisions did Jill and Hunter make for Joe? What would the decision have been if it were left to Biden alone?He obviously did since Jill and Hunter sat in on cabinet meetings and made decisions in his stead. Biden was nothing but a figurehead for most of his presidency.
No he didn’t. He acted like he was in charge of DOGE, but in the meeting he just gave his report.Musk acted like he was in charge in those meetings far, far more than anyone else in any such meeting with Trump, or Biden, or Obama. There was a reason people referred to him occasionally as the "co-President".
Probably chocolate.What decisions did Jill and Hunter make for Joe? What would the decision have been if it were left to Biden alone?
What decisions did Jill and Hunter make for Joe?Probably chocolate.
High-Larry-Owse.No he didn’t. He acted like he was in charge of DOGE, but in the meeting he just gave his report.
Your narrow view of the political spectrum underestimates the range of Trump critics.LOL. Nobody but the far left called him “co-president.
I know that millions of centrist Democrats left the Democrat party and joined up with the Republicans, leaving mostly very-left-of-center and far left persons in the Democrat party.High-Larry-Owse.
Musk's whole attitude in several of those meetings (and the ones in the Oval) were very much of the "I'm driving this boat" sort.
Your narrow view of the political spectrum underestimates the range of Trump critics.
I wasn’t sitting in on the meeting to know that.What decisions did Jill and Hunter make for Joe?
I've seen plenty of ex-Republicans refer to Musk (or Miller) as co-President, or something similar.I know that millions of centrist Democrats left the Democrat party and joined up with the Republicans, leaving mostly very-left-of-center and far left persons in the Democrat party.
Then you don’t actually know if any decisions were made by anyone other than the president?I wasn’t sitting in on the meeting to know that.
Ah, now I see the problem. Maybe don’t take gossip spread by a professional propagandist trying to sell a sensationalist book as gospel truth.But Jake Tapper (a very far left political pundit on CNN) surprisingly wrote a book about it and interviewed lots of people, including cabinet members, about it. Perhaps you should get the book and read it to see how bad it really was.
I dont need to rely on anyone else. I, personally, was able to see and hear him with my own eyes and ears during the whole time from as early as his campaign and on through the whole four years of his term and know exactly how bad he was. By the time the debates rolled around, he had all the classic signs of late dementia.Then you don’t actually know if any decisions were made by anyone other than the president?
Ah, now I see the problem. Maybe don’t take gossip spread by a professional propagandist trying to sell a sensationalist book as gospel truth.
If you’ve read the book, could you tell me how bad it really was? I don’t feel like adding to Jake Tapper’s already overinflated wealth.
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